The class was heading to the town of Warsaw to see "Elf The Musical", WBND reports.
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Indiana State Police and Marshall County deputies responded just after 9:05 a.m. to a report of a crash on northbound US 31 at the railroad crossing just south of Michigan Road.
A school bus from Eastern Pulaski Community School Corporation had stopped at the tracks and was starting to move again when a truck towing a flatbed trailer struck the left rear of the bus, state police said.
There were 38 eighth grade students on the bus, along with three chaperones and the female bus driver.
A student seated in that section of the bus was pronounced dead at the scene by the Marshall County coroner. The teen boy's identity will be released one positive identification is made and his family is notified.
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Another student, 14-year-old Zane Bell, was airlifted to Memorial Hospital in South Bend. His injuries were not life-threatening, state police said.
The rest of the students were taken to St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Plymouth for complaints of pain. They were reunited with their parents there.
Toxicology results are pending for the 26-year-old Camby man driving the truck and the 54-year-old Winamac woman driving the school bus. These tests are required by law for all drivers involved in a serious injury or fatal crash.
Northbound US 31 was still closed as of 2:45 p.m. Wednesday, for crash reconstruction and vehicle removal. Investigators said weather was not a factor in the crash.